Alexander Thier, Assistant to the Administrator for Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs, along with Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials visited a recently installed tubewell. USAID is helping CDA replace 187 outdated tubewells with energy efficient pumps to improve water supply and reduce energy consumption in the capital by approximately 2 megawatts.

Islamabad, December 10, 2012 : Alexander Thier, Assistant to the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), today visited a neighborhood where USAID has recently installed an energy efficient tubewell. USAID is helping the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to replace 187 outdated water tubewells with more energy efficient models in order to improve water supply and cut down on energy consumption in the city.

"More energy efficient tubewell pumps will not only improve water supply and reduce energy use, but also decrease CDA's energy bills by $900,000 per year," said Thier, who heads the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs at USAID. "Relieving Pakistan's energy crisis is one of our top assistance priorities, so I am pleased that USAID is working jointly with the CDA to provide immediate relief for consumers in Islamabad."

Prior to the replacement of the pumps, CDA received up to 1,000 water-related complaints a day, more than half of them coming from the I-10 sector, where residents often spent up to a month with no water service. Since the replacement of the tubewell, complaints from I-10 have dropped to only 40 a day. "Things have changed enormously around here, and the presence of people from this neighborhood is a testament to the success of this project," said Dr. Saeed, President of the I-10 Civil Society Organization.

Municipal tubewell replacement is one element of the USAID Power Distribution Program, which was announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009 to support the Government of Pakistan in reforming the power sector to mitigate Pakistan's energy crisis. The program is helping power distribution companies to improve their commercial performance, reduce losses, increase revenues, and improve customer service through the introduction of new technology and improved work practices. In addition to the replacement of tubewells in Islamabad, USAID plans to replace a number of municipal tubewells in Karachi and Peshawar, significantly improving the quality of life for the residents of the three cities.

In addition to the Power Distribution Program, the United States and Pakistan together are carrying out other large-scale energy projects that will add 900 megawatts of capacity to the power grid by the end of next year -- enough to supply electricity to an estimated 2 million households. These projects include renovating the power plant at the Tarbela Dam; modernizing the generators at the Mangla Dam; upgrading the Guddu, Jamshoro and Muzafaragarh power plants; and building the Satpara and Gomal Zam dams. U.S. technical assistance is also supporting crucial policy and management reforms underway in the Ministry of Water and Power. These reforms are focused both on reducing the power grid's technical losses and on increasing collections.